Star Trek Continues "Pilgrim of Eternity"

I read so many (wrong) posts here criticising a lack of character development in the last two Star Trek movies, and now you three here tell me character growth doesn't matter?

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I have never criticized JJ Trek for lack of character growth, at least I don't think I have. Spock certainly has grown in them. Kirk too, though he still seems jerky to me. Its (guess what...) style is not to my taste. But I AM looking for good, humane, wonder-filled sci-fi, not character arcs. Movie-wise I am more of a TMP-TVH-INS guy, if that tells ya anything, though I love TWOK a lot too, for its great, human moments.

Watching this production I often felt that if the right lens or filter slid into place I'd swear this was an authentic episode from TOS' original run.

I've never had that feeling from any of the other fan productions. I can commend their efforts and admire their enthusiasm, but in the end there are often too many differences that distract me from getting swept up in it. It's much like feeling an author hasn't been effective at getting and holding your attention sufficiently for you to really care about his or her story.

The fact that you had to eliminate comedies shows you acknowledge that some fan films are very creative and original. I'm sure you'll further acknowledge it by making up reasons to eliminate more of these.

Every time you say a fan film doesn't count you prove yourself wrong again.

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Is that the same logic as "when a woman says no, she really means yes"?

I know Aurora isn't a comedy (your link leads elsewhere, btw).

These comedies and parodies may be good, but when I think of Star Trek, I don't think of comedy. Humour and fun, yes.

If a Star Trek comedy/parody is what you try and sell as creative, then I'd much rather stick to Phase II and Continues and Exeter and all the other fan productions that try to tell good stories within the confines of the setting of TOS - and usually they are doing a great job.

You probably see it as one, but this isn't an attack on these comedies. I enjoy them. But they aren't a what I would like the fan productions try and do if they were allowed a free rein by CBS.

And, but that's probably just me, I like to see Kirk and co. in these stories not some other characters. I enjoyed TNG, DS9 (which I think is the best of the 24th century shows), VOY and ENT, but I'm done with them.

Phase II and Continues give me a lot of what I like; they make my fan-heart pretty happy - despite my whining in this thread.

Someone way upstream wrote about cringe-worthy moments in fan films. I was watching Adonais, and that has a couple cringe-y moments, mostly involving Scotty. Few real eps don't have at least one. How about Spock leering at Mudd's women; or saying to nearly-raped Janice Rand that id-Kirk had some interesting qualities and smirking? Just the two that come first to mind.

Someone way upstream wrote about cringe-worthy moments in fan films. I was watching Adonais, and that has a couple cringe-y moments, mostly involving Scotty. Few real eps don't have at least one. How about Spock leering at Mudd's women; or saying to nearly-raped Janice Rand that id-Kirk had some interesting qualities and smirking? Just the two that come first to mind.

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Very true. As much as I love TOS once in awhile there are moments that have made me go, "Uh...yeah."

I will give the production crew, and actors, credit: The visuals were delightful, and Chris Doohan would have made his dad proud. Aside from that, most of the other actors were just non-existent. Oh, they were saying their lines, but that's about all it felt like. There was no emotion, no strength in the delivery. It almost felt like a table reading, to be honest.

If I close my eyes, and listen to Shat, Nimoy, or Kelley deliver their lines, I can almost read the expressions on their faces just by the way they deliver the words. With these people, however, I draw a blank. For all I know, they're reading the menu at Don's Chinese Buffet, and just ordered the Creme of Sum-Yung-Gai.

Also, the actor playing McCoy needs to be replaced. He's just completely wrong for the role. Remember watching Andy Griffith, and seeing Floyd Lawson as played by Howard McNear? Remember the first actor who played Floyd? Well it would be like replacing Howard McNear with Walter Baldwin. It would just strike the wrong chord immediately, and that's how I felt with this actor playing McCoy. No offense to the man, he's playing his part, but the whole tone feels completely off.

By comparison, Karl Urban nailed the shit out of the McCoy role for ST09 and STiD. To me, Urban is the bona fide younger incarnation of De Kelley's famous ship's surgeon/all-around curmudgeon. So it can be done.

All in all, a decent effort, though I feel that they should have simply struck out to do a different crew. One of my favorite fan productions is Starship Exeter, because they're not trying to be the Enterprise crew, and I think it works better that way. Unless you have some mad talent as a casting director, you're not going to effectively capture the mannerisms and style of that original crew.

So, all in all, a valiant effort, and in some places they succeed, where in many others they don't. I don't care about authentic sets, and smooth visuals if the actors can't deliver. If they can't pull me into the story, then it's all for naught.

As it stands, when I see Vic Mignona, I see "I AM PLAYING CAPTAIN KIRK!" in neon letters above his head. The same for Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, respectively. Chris Doohan, though, did a wonderful job as Scotty. He even smiles like him. I really enjoyed his work in this episode. The rest, though, didn't seem comfortable in their roles. Maybe it's just me, but they seemed to be more avatar than incarnation.

So I hope they can improve on that, because they have a lot of promise. Some significant work needs done, but if they're dedicated, they'll see it through. I hope they succeed. It's nice to see episodic Star Trek again.

I think some of you are confusing dud scripts with overall quality of the product as a whole. There are lots of TOS episode duds, but, with a few exceptions, the acting is always solid as is the camera work, editing, etc. By those measures, no fanfilm ever has been TV quality, as admirable as the work might be.

I think Vic does a passable job as Kirk. He tends to speak through his nose though, and with practice could open it up and sound less like he's hitting the helium. And that's not a dig. I really think he's doing the best "non-sanctioned" Kirk I've seen.

The Spock guy is ok, but the hair bugs me. It's just not right. The ears are too big for his head too. These are minor things that can be fixed.

McCoy is miscast. The guy might be good with another character, but not this one. P2's John Kelley is much better, IMO.

Chris Doohan does a good job, but might be trying a bit too hard. Some places the accent didn't flow, like he was tripping over it. He'll get it right.

Another Scotty note: I thought that if it were 45 years ago, some of his lines would have gone to Spock or McCoy. Not a problem, just something I noticed.

Michael Forest was good.

The holodeck scene was weird. It didn't fit into the story at all. I didn't get the Paladin connection until I saw someone else comment on it. That's cool, but unnecessary.

Otherwise, the story was good. They hit the ground running with this one. Some things could be tightened up, but all in all, I've seen a lot worse.

I think some of you are confusing dud scripts with overall quality of the product as a whole. There are lots of TOS episode duds, but, with a few exceptions, the acting is always solid as is the camera work, editing, etc. By those measures, no fanfilm ever has been TV quality, as admirable as the work might be.

Well, most of it has already been said, but I, too, am blown away by the quality of this. While certainly not up to television broadcast standards, most of this seemed to work. The acting, the music, the story, the effects – there's great work from all departments. I especially enjoyed Michael Forest, who – no surprise there – outshines pretty much everyone else with his acting chops. He has a grace and stature that even a silly costume and hair piece can't diminish.

But all the others were great, too. Vis Mignogna is terrific as Kirk! I didn't think I was going to like him from the first snippets of his Kirk, but I loved him here. Larry Nemecek as McCoy is nice, too, even though he's not exactly channeling Kelley's performance. (But then again, why would he need to be?) Chris Doohan is great as Scotty and I like the guy playing Spock; although he seems too young to me.

My favorite scene in this, by the way, was the singing in the rec room. It might have seemed cheesy to some, but it really felt like something TOS would have done; especially in season three or four. Michael Forest's delivery in this was amazing. I loved this! (Also, Jamie Bamber as a redshirt: Brilliant!)

I wish I could say the same about the first scene and the last, both of which seemed kind of gratuitous. The first one because it served no purpose whatsoever for the story to follow, and the last one because it felt like something TOS would never have done.

But those are just minor quibbles. I love this and I'm really looking forward to what they come up with next.

I think some of you are confusing dud scripts with overall quality of the product as a whole. There are lots of TOS episode duds, but, with a few exceptions, the acting is always solid as is the camera work, editing, etc. By those measures, no fanfilm ever has been TV quality, as admirable as the work might be.

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An episode of TOS cost what adjusted to inflation? 1 million?

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People keep saying some fanfilms are as good as the professional shows, but they're not. The cost may well be partly to blame, but I think there's more to it than that, especially since these are labors of love instead of professional productions (even if there are some pro people involved).

None of which is to diminish what these people accomplish. I'm just being realistic about the result.

I think some of you are confusing dud scripts with overall quality of the product as a whole. There are lots of TOS episode duds, but, with a few exceptions, the acting is always solid as is the camera work, editing, etc. By those measures, no fanfilm ever has been TV quality, as admirable as the work might be.

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An episode of TOS cost what adjusted to inflation? 1 million?

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I believe the episodes were budgeted at $186,000 per episode for one of the seasons (can't remember which). That would amount to about $1.3 million in today's dollars

The holodeck was somewhat gratuitous, to bridge the TOS era to TNG (as was the counselor). I can live with it. We had the IDIC scene in a broadcast TOS after all, just to sell trinkets.

I'm ok with a different-feeling Dr. oddly. I really like DeForest Kelley; but different actors are allowed to interpret a role differently. In fact in the movies Pine and Quinto seem different from the TV actors, but Urban is so Kelley-like, it takes me out of the story a bit. Weird, I know. The Chekov guy, too, like they're impersonating the TV actors while the rest did their characters on their own.